r
The Battalion
SPORTS
Friday, May 4,1990
Sports Editor Nadja Sabawala
845-25;
Ags visit Hogs with tourney spot on line
By NADJA SABAWALA
Of The Battalion Staff
Battalion Hie photo byj.janner
A&M players jump for joy after clinching the Southwest Conference co-championship with Arkansas last year.
The Texas A&M baseball team faces Ar
kansas this weekend in a three-game series
that both teams will want to sweep.
The Razorbacks have a chance to clinch a
conference championship while the Aggies
can win a berth in the post-season tourna
ment.
Arkansas can wrap up the Southwest
Conference championship by taking all
three games from the Aggies. These victo
ries would give the 14-4 Razorbacks a half
game lead over second-place Texas if the
Longhorns sweep Texas Christian this
weekend.
If Arkansas sustains one or two losses,
Texas must suffer the same amount of
losses to finish the teams first and second.
For Texas A&M, it’s not a conference ti
tle that’s at stake but a place in the SWC
Tournament May 17-19 in Austin.
“We need to go to Arkansas to win —
that’s all there is to it,” said A&M right-
fielder Dan Robinson. “We need to go there
and put our hearts on the line and play as
well as we can.”
The 10-8 Aggies can clinch the last spot
in the four-team tournament this weekend
— the magic number is two.
Any combination of Aggie wins or Rice
losses that equal two will put A&M into
post-season play. Otherwise, the 8-9 Owls,
who play Texas Tech next weekend in
Houston, will take over the position.
Aggie coach Mark Johnson said he wants
his team to win the two this weekend.
“We’ve got to go in there and take two
out of three,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to
have to sit and hope that Rice can lose a
game to Tech.”
HOtK;
See Ags/Page 10
Mavericks give Perkins six-year contract extension
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks
have extended a six-year, $18 million con
tract to forward Sam Perkins that would
make him one of the highest-paid players in
the NBA, a Dallas newspaper reported.
Perkins becomes an unrestricted free
agent July 1, meaning he’ll be free to sign
with any team in the league.
Norm Sonju, the chief operating officer
and general manager of the Mavericks, has
made sure that freedom won’t come cheap
sign
with another
if Perkins decides to
team, observers say.
Lee Fentress, Perkins’ attorney, could
not be reached for comment. But an un
named source in the Mavericks’ front office
confirmed Perkins received a six-year, $18
million offer, according to The Dallas
Morning News.
The newspaper also reported that a per
son outside the organization said it’s his un
derstanding that the deal begins at $2 mil
lion for the 1990-91 season and escalates to
$4 million in the final year.
Perkins, who said he hadn’t had a chance
to look over the contract Thursday, has in
dicated he probably will wait another three
or four months before signing with Dallas
or any other team.
“It’s a tremendous package,” said Sonju,
who refused to discuss the specifics of the
deal. “We offered, in clear conscience,
numbers we think are dramatic.
“We hope it will work out.”
Observers say it’s difficult to assess where
this offer falls in relation to other contracts
around the league because so many factors,
such as deferred payments and signing bo
nuses, are involved in determining the pre
sent-day value. But the offer to Perkins ap
pears comparable in average salary to the
nine-year, $29 million deal forward Charles
Barkley signed with the Philadelphia 76ers
this seastpn.
Lakers topple
battling Rockets
ending series 3-1
HOUSTON (AP) — Just as theydij
their other victories in the series, thej
Angeles Lakers wore down the Hoia
Rockets.
James Worthy scored 10 of his 20
in the game’s final 7:37 on Thursdayb«
and the Lakers finally pulled awaytoa]!
88 victory for a 3-1
victory in the best-of-
5, opening-round se
ries of the NBA play
offs.
“They did a great
job of double-team-
ming the lane early in
the game,” Worthy
said. “But they got in foul trouble
maybe got a little tired and the oppon,
ties came to me later.’’
Three Rockets starters, Akeem Olai
won, Otis Thorpe and Vernon Maxki
had three fouls at halftime.
The Lakers, who snapped a four-j
losing streak in The Summit, will
winner of the Utah-Phoenix series ii
Western Conference semifinals. Phi
leads the series 2-1 with Game 4 in Phi
on Friday night.
“We came out from the beginning
took control,” Lakers guard MagicJohit
said. “Like I said yesterday, we knew
had to contain their guards and we
The Lakers, who had double- andtrii
teamed Olajuwon in the first three
of the series, abandoned that strategyin
finale.
“We went straight up on them and
played honest defense on Akeem,”
Johnson, who had 19 points. “Offensin
we ran a great transition game. It wasji
total team effort.”
The Rockets, who had leads of
points in their first two losses in the sei
didn’t have the shooting touch or quid
that helped them in the first three game
“We wanted to play hard and jump
on them,” Lakers center Mychal Thom]
said. “The Rockets presented a challi
on Tuesday and Byron (Scott) and M
came out and answered it.”
The Lakers shot 61 percent for the
compared to the Rockets’ 42 percent el
Los Angeles hit six of its first nine
while the Rockets made just two of
first 18.
Olajuwon led the Rockets with 28
14 rebounds and four blocked shots.
play ii
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